


A Storm’s Upon Us

by FaithSky



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: EFA Fic Challenge 2020, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25794772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaithSky/pseuds/FaithSky
Summary: Nicole finds her emotions are mirrored by the weather after a difficult day at Purgatory High School leaves her rushing to make amends for a mistake. A mistake she fears will lead to her losing the most important person in her life, even if they don’t know the full extent of her feelings just yet.
Relationships: Waverly Earp & Nicole Haught, Waverly Earp/Nicole Haught
Comments: 10
Kudos: 169





	A Storm’s Upon Us

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my entry for the EFA Fic Challenge 2020. The prompt was “tender” and I went through so many different ideas including a LOT of music. In the end I remembered a quote that inspired an image...and this is what happened. 
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy! <3

_ “The heavy rain beat down the tender branches of vine and jessamine, and trampled on them in it’s fury; and when the lightning gleamed, it showed the tearful leaves shivering and cowering together at the window, and tapping at it urgently, as if beseeching to be sheltered from the dismal night.” - Charles Dickens _

*****

Nicole wasn’t sure what was worse, getting suspended for fighting with Champ in the lunch hall, or the distraught look on Waverly’s face after the incident. Waverly Earp, the girl she had been in love with since fourth grade. Head cheerleader, nicest girl in Purgatory, her best friend’s kid sister and Champ’s ex girlfriend. He’d cheated on her, seemingly with half the girls on the squad she was in charge of. Waverly had broken down and cried on Nicole’s shoulder about it. So naturally the following day she had beaten the crap out of him. 

Getting jumped on by two of the guys from the football team hadn’t been part of the plan. Neither had the black eye and bruised ribs, or getting caught by Principal Lucado when she was hammering an elbow into Champ’s stupid face. But she’d promised Wynonna she would look after her baby sister as the older Earp was carted away to juvie. She wasn’t going to break that promise. And besides, it was  _ Waverly.  _ It always had been. 

The lightning cracked overhead, Nicole flinched, the violent summer storm hadn’t been part of the plan either. She looked up at the second story back window of the Earp Homestead, Waverly was reading, if the shallow light peeking through the curtain was anything to go by. Nicole looked to the bunch of flowers clenched in her hand, the washed grey denim of her jeans almost black with the rain. Her navy polo shirt stuck to her body uncomfortably and her hair was drenched. 

Vibrations of thunder boomed, angry and tempestuous, the storm was getting closer. Nicole groaned, she was sore and soggy...and nervous. She wanted to apologise to Waverly and tell her that she hadn’t meant to embarrass her. But the longer she stood out in the pounding rain, the more this felt like a bad idea. The grass under her converse squelched as she plucked up the courage to at least get a little closer to the house. 

The light in the kitchen flicked on so she ducked down out of sight. Definitely wanting to avoid Ward catching her lurking about in his backyard. Her breathing picked up as she listened to bottles clinking, the telltale clatter of a dining chair falling over before he finally seemed to retreat to the couch. 

“Now or never.” Nicole said to herself, blinking up into the rain as she took out her phone and dialled the only number she had favourited. Waverly had ignored the few texts she had sent, hopefully she would pick up. She waited with baited breath, watching shadows dance across the far wall of Waverly’s bedroom, presumably as she moved to grab her phone. 

“What?” The sharp tone of Waverly’s voice pierced through her with more force than the storm raging around her. 

“I, um...wanted to apologise. I let my anger get the best of me Waves. I was wrong.” Another flash of lightning, another crash of thunder. It seemed Mother Nature was as disappointed as Nicole was with herself. 

“Why Nicole? In front of  _ everyone _ ! All my friends!?” The venom pouring out of Waverly through every pronounced syllable had Nicole’s shoulders slumping further and further. It ended up that she was hunched over far enough for drops of the relentless rain to begin dripping down her back. 

“He hurt you. And then he  _ bragged _ about it. Saying how you’ll go crawling back to him when you realise no one else would touch an Earp. I saw red and next thing I remember is you looking at me like...like you hated me.” Nicole all but whispered the last sentence. She was used to Waverly’s smiles and little waves from across the school corridors. Not being on the receiving end of fury blown green eyes. The old cliche of ‘if looks could kill’ is always taken to mean physically. But in that one look from Waverly, Nicole had felt herself die inside. 

“You’re not my keeper Nicole! You didn’t even give me a chance to deal with it on my own!” Nicole heard music in the background, clearly Waverly’s attempt to hide the fact that she was shouting from her father. 

“I know. I’m so sorry Waverly.” She couldn’t hold the tears back anymore, not that anyone looking at her would be able to tell she was crying. The rain was still pelting down at an unrelenting rate. More lightning and more thunder followed close behind each other, the storm was nearly overhead. Ironic, Nicole thought. That, as Waverly’s words filled with more hurt and irritation, so the savagery of the weather increased. 

“If being an Earp wasn’t bad enough, if Wynonna being in juvie wasn’t enough, if the fact that he  _ cheated _ on me wasn’t enough. You had to go and defend my honour in such a idiotic way and make it worse. People used to just whisper and giggle behind my back but now? Now they’re going to laugh right in my face!” Nicole waited as Waverly took a breath, starting to shiver as the chill of the heavy downpour seeped into her bones. 

“I just want one damn year where my life doesn’t feel like a shitty TV drama! And why does it sound like you’re in a shower!?” Nicole looked up then, she could see Waverly pacing through the window, unaware of her presence.

“I, uh...I’m here...outside.” Nicole admitted through chattering teeth. 

“You’re what!?” The silhouette stopped, Nicole knew she had been seen, now able to make out the shocked expression on Waverly’s face. She went to wave, remembering as she lifted her free hand, that it contained flowers. The action only made her sob, loudly, loud enough for the brunette to hear, if her soft gasp was anything to go by. 

“I wanted, no, I needed to see you and, and apologise.” Nicole spoke through her tears, through the fear and catastrophic surge of emotion over the potential of losing Waverly for good. Even if it was just  _ friends _ . 

“I can’t believe you.” With that, Waverly hung up the phone and disappeared from view. And Nicole broke. Falling to her knees, dropping the bouquet from her shuddering fingertips and allowing her grief to consume her entirely. She found herself struggling to breathe, her lungs refusing the oxygen she was gasping for. Her entire body convulsed. The rain hitting her skin so hard now that it stung but it barely registered when compared to the agony rife in her soul. 

Eventually Nicole just felt numb. Whether that was from the storm’s delightful torment or the overwhelming torrent of emotion sapping her of all coherency, she didn’t know. She could no longer hear the thunder, nor feel the rain. The only indication that the tempest was still raging around her being the flash of lightning illuminating despite closed eyes. She clenched her fists, still bruised from the altercation with Champ, and beat at the ground. It was soft enough that it didn’t exactly hurt, but she  _ felt  _ it. Thud after thud against wet earth until she realised she was crying out with each punch. 

“Nicole!?” Waverly’s voice didn’t stop her spiral. It barely registered at all. 

“Nicole. Stop!” Closer this time. It wasn’t the concern in Waverly’s tone that made her pause. It was the distinct squelch of footsteps against the sodden ground getting closer. But she couldn’t stop, like a lit fuse destined to explode, she just kept lashing her knuckles into the divots of the lawn. 

“Please.” As the tips of Waverly’s boots came into view she sat back on her heels and looked up. Regretting it almost immediately as her first thought was just how cute the younger girl looked in an oversized raincoat. She hiccoughed out a gut wrenching sob and watched as Waverly reached out a hand. 

“Come on.” Nicole took the olive branch and accepted the help to stand. Waverly tugged her towards the house and she went willingly. Only pausing once she had climbed the first wooden step leading towards the door. As the arm connected to the hand she was still holding pulled tight, Waverly turned and smiled. 

“He’s passed out on the couch.” Waverly had a habit of being able to read Nicole’s mind. And the softly spoken words gave her hope, hope that maybe she hadn’t broken the most precious thing in her world. 

Nicole didn’t speak, she couldn’t. Not as Waverly handed her a towel, not as the brunette cleaned the now open cuts on her hands. Words escaped her even when Waverly started peeling off her polo shirt. She was frozen. 

“You need to get out of these wet clothes.” The brunette prompted. If Nicole were of sound mind she wouldn’t have just pulled her shirt off, but she wasn’t, so she did. Her gaze flitted to Waverly’s own and watched concern fill those precious green eyes.

“Holy shit. Nicole.” Waverly reached forwards and placed a trembling hand against the dark bruise that has blossomed on Nicole’s rib cage. She winced. Her nerve endings finally reminding her that she was indeed still able to feel pain. Waverly jerked her hand away and Nicole found herself rushing to apologise again. 

“Sorry. Still tender.” For the first time since she was being carted out of the principal’s office by her father, Nicole attempted a smile to quell the worry written on Waverly’s face. She watched as the younger girl took in the dark and angry purple skin that spread from her abdomen to the line of her sports bra. She closed her eyes as she noticed Waverly reach out a hand to touch her again. Fingertips brushing against her made the muscles jump, but she didn’t pull away this time, just traced the outline of the bruise. 

When Nicole managed to persuade herself to look at Waverly again she saw tears she wasn’t expecting gathered at the corners of green eyes. Glistening. 

“You’re really hurt.” Waverly took a step closer and reached up, brushing a thumb over the swelling just above Nicole’s left cheekbone. She shrugged in lieu of a response. 

“Why Nicole? He was with all his friends, you had to know you would take a beating. Why would you risk that?” Waverly wasn’t shouting now. The question was asked with reverence rather than rage and that, Nicole supposed, is what prompted her to tell the truth. Standing half naked in Waverly’s bedroom, she took a breath ready to take another, much bigger, risk. 

“Because it’s you. You’re worth taking every risk. Just once, just for a moment, I wish you could see yourself through my eyes. So you could see just how much you matter. You. Are. Extraordinary. Waverly Earp.” Their gaze locked, Nicole tried not to play with the sopping wet shirt in her hands so as not to take away the sincerity of her words. All or nothing.

“Whoever is lucky enough to be trusted with your heart should cherish it. Because it is so, so precious.” Nicole’s hand moved without her permission, her thumb chasing away the tears that had started to fall down Waverly’s cheeks. As she went to move away the brunette gently covered the back of her hand with her own. Holding it in place. Eye contact never wavering. 

“I’m so stupid. How on Earth could I have not seen this?” Waverly all but whispered, seemingly asking the question of herself, rhetorically so. Because before Nicole could even comprehend an answer Waverly moved closer, propped herself up onto her tiptoes and gently, oh so gently, kissed her. 

Nicole’s entire body was engulfed in seconds. Her lips responding to the soft touch of Waverly’s own, moving together as one. She whimpered as one of her hands found purchase on the younger girl’s hips, trembling and timid, as if too strong a caress would break the moment. But Waverly just pushed her body closer, wrapped her arms around the back of Nicole’s neck and melted into the kiss. Nicole dropped the shirt without a second thought and her fingers locked together at the small of Waverly’s back. 

They kissed slowly and Nicole felt sure that her heart was going to beat out of her chest. Her entire body felt like a live wire, in stark contrast to the numbness that had consumed her moments before. The lightning still flashing just outside the window wasn’t the only light Nicole saw behind closed eyes. She could see stars with every movement of Waverly’s lips against her own, an entire galaxy opening up right in front of her. 

“Wow.” Both of them spoke the same one word together as they finally pulled apart. Nicole was sure she looked dumbstruck, whilst Waverly, well she looked more beautiful than ever. 

“I’m not usually one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but, Waves...what’s happening?” Nicole couldn't bring herself to step back, nor remove her hands from the younger girl’s hips. Fear entrenched in her that if she did, Waverly would fall away like sand through an hourglass. 

“You’ve always been there for me without question. You’ve always seen me, the  _ real _ me and not once wavered. You protect me, even though I don’t always need it and even if you risk yourself. You’re my shoulder to cry on, you make me smile even on my dark days. God, Nicole, when I turned ten you chased Stupid Carl for nearly two miles when he took my bike.” Waverly shook her head and Nicole was enraptured by the smile gracing her face. 

“I’ve spent so much time dreaming of someone like you, I didn’t realise it was you I was dreaming of.” Waverly pecked at her lips again and Nicole couldn’t help the dimpled grin. 

“I’ve always thought you were beautiful and when you came out to Nonna and me it got me thinking that maybe it wasn’t envy that had me feeling that way. But I was so scared to admit to myself that I was attracted to you, both because I didn’t think I would stand a chance and because I didn’t know what it meant. God, I’m so dumb.” Waverly shook herself again and slumped forwards, resting her head on Nicole’s shoulder. 

“You are the smartest person I know.” Nicole spoke as her thumb and index finger clasped hold of Waverly’s chin and lifted. Ensuring eye contact before she continued. 

“It’s okay to be scared. I’ve been petrified of how I feel for you for years. But I just need you to know that I’ll be right here, by your side, for as long as you want me.” Nicole lent forward, lips now finding a familiar home against Waverly’s. 

“So, what does this mean?” Waverly asked tentatively. 

“Whatever you want it to. I care about you Waves and I really  _ really  _ like you. I definitely want to keep kissing you. But it’s been a lot tonight and I’m suddenly aware that I’m half naked in your bedroom.” Nicole chuckled. “There’s no pressure here, but I can’t help but have hope this is the start of something.” Waverly smiled at Nicole’s admission. And she found herself taking a deep breath of relief that the younger girl was still standing in her arms, not running for the proverbial hills. 

“I can’t believe this happened...in a good way and I definitely wouldn’t mind if it happened again and again.” Nicole felt her own smile growing at Waverly’s choice of words. With a quick kiss she regrettably let go of the brunette, just long enough to disappear to the bathroom and get changed into clothes that weren’t sticking to her skin. 

As she returned to the bedroom, now wearing what she could only assume were Wynonna’s sweats and baggy tee, she realised just how much pain she was still in. But one look at Waverly propped up in bed, book open on her lap, smile firmly on her face, made everything else irrelevant. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to sleep on the floor?” They’d shared a bed before, many times, but given the evening’s events Nicole felt as though she had to ask. 

“Just get in the damn bed Nicole.” Waverly commanded. So she did. Allowing the emotional turmoil of the day to finally begin to subside. After ten minutes or so Waverly reached over to turn off the light and to Nicole’s absolute delight, curled up into her side. Waverly snuggled in, her head resting on Nicole’s shoulder, an arm wrapped firmly round her waist. Nicole took a deep breath and held the younger girl as close as she could without hurting herself. She felt Waverly sigh against her and closed her eyes. As both of their breathing started to even out; Nicole spoke softly against the crown of brunette hair. 

“To be close to you. The most tender and terrifying place I know.” She finally succumbed to sleep...as the storm ceased outside the window. 

**Author's Note:**

> As always, thank you for reading.


End file.
